Current event Oct. 26

Federalism...again

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801. The party was formed by Alexander Hamilton, who, during George Washington's first term, built a network of supporters, largely urban bankers and businessmen, to support his fiscal policies. These supporters grew into the Federalist Party committed to a fiscally sound and nationalistic government.Political parties had not been expected when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to the Constitution. No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790, Hamilton started building a nationwide army. Realizing the need for vocal political support in the states, he formed connections with like-minded nationalists and used his network of treasury agents to link together friends of the government, especially merchants and bankers, in the new nation's dozen major cities. His attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, "brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a national faction and then, finally, as the new Federalist party."

Federalism

1. Federalism is defined as a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. To me, federalism is a type of government that has a central power and distributes the rest of the power among different geographical places.
2. Expressed - power delegated to National Government, Implied - power given to Congress, and Inherent - power belongs to National Government
3. The division of powers is the way that the powers are divided between the national and state governments. This is important because neither the states nor national government have too much power.
4. The Supremacy clause is the section of the Constitution that states that no law will supercede the Constitution. This is to ensure that the power of the government will be greater with one division.
5. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/federalism.htm : This site gives the explanation of how a federal government works and is easy to understand. The site also contains many links to continue learning. This is also a government site so the information is valid.